


Break Free

by wellthatjusthappend



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Arkham (Video Games)
Genre: Arkham Knight AU, Blood and Gore, F/F, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Jason collects moms like no one's business, M/M, The Joker is the one that the MCD tag is fore, Torture, angst with happy ending, no editing we die leik men, only there's probably not going to be and arkham knight anymore, so no sadness there, there is no scene though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:54:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25864681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wellthatjusthappend/pseuds/wellthatjusthappend
Summary: It'd been a while since Harley was in Arkham, but the Joker was so excited to see her, his glee infectious as he said he had a brilliant new game he'd been wanting to share with her! Harley had been beyond curious as he had some guards give them back their costumes and weapons and take them to a secret cell underneath the prison.And then she saw the kid.
Relationships: Harleen Quinzel & Jason Todd, Joker (DCU)/Harleen Quinzel, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel
Comments: 18
Kudos: 169





	Break Free

**Author's Note:**

> This story was _going_ to be part of BJTW, but then I just felt iffy about it. Jason's too young in this, and that's half the point.

The sickening crack of the Joker’s skull splattering all over the wall was too loud in the sudden silence, the echo of the Joker’s last laugh seeming to hang in the air. 

It'd been a while since Harley was in Arkham, but the Joker was so excited to see her, his glee infectious as he said he had a brilliant new game he'd been wanting to share with her! Harley had been beyond curious as he had some guards give them back their costumes and weapons and take them to a secret cell underneath the prison.

And then she saw the kid. 

Harley stared wide-eyed at the mess that was left of her boyfriend- her ex-boyfriend she supposed- and the blood on her mallet dripping steadily as the rest of his body fell to the side. A furious, gleeful, crazy high was taking her and Harley found herself giggling hysterically. 

“How ‘bout that, Puddin? You think that’s funny?” she asked his corpse. 

She thought of her baby, her little Lucy, and how she had been right to keep her from the Joker all this time, because if the Joker could do _this_ to a child-

“You peice of shite, you really be thinkin I would help you torture a kid?” she asked, all humor leaving her voice, “Pamy was right, I should have shot your bum ages ago.”

With that, she dropped her mallet and made her way over to the “surprise” the Joker had brought her down here to see.

Or rather, the kid.

Covered in blood, piss, sweat, and semen, he was mostly unresponsive even after all the commotion Harley and the Joker had made coming down. The kid was skin an bones, but even if he hadn’t had a dirty uniform dangling off him, Harley would have recognized him. 

Everyone knew the second Robin had disappeared a couple years ago. She guessed he had been here- under Arkham- being tortured by her Puddin and the other inmates all this time. The Joker probably thought she was was gunna jump to be a part of such a marvelous game. 

It’d be one thing if he’d nabbed Nightwing or some leaguer to mess with. They were adults, they _knew_ what they were getting into when they played with the Joker. But Robin was just a kid. A small kid made smaller still by starvation when he should have been in the biggest growth spurt of his life. A kid like that should be off sneaking beers and playing hooky at school, not left to the sick whims of the inmates of Arkham.

She cut the ropes and dragged the kid, chair and all, to the standing shower and started to work to get some of the grime off him. There was far too much blood and the last thing the kid needed was an infection. 

“I don’t suppose you have a change of clothes, huh?” Harley mumbled as she scrubbed, being mindful of some of the burns and injuries the boy had.

The boy just stared at her blankly, but Harley didn’t blame him. He was probably in shock… or maybe even drugged, considering the games she knew her Puddin liked to get up to. 

“Well, we’re not gonna be able to sneak you out in this,” Harley frowned, tugging on the Robin uniform, “We’d both be drugged to the tits before we could say “Batty Shite”, which is all fine for me, I know the routine here in the pen, but those guards are dirty and I don’t trust them to do right by you considering what they’ve already pulled.” 

It barely took any effort to take off the tattered uniform, and then she had to confront the damning evidence of some of the other things that had been done to the kid. 

“When I find out everyone responsible for doing this to you, they’re going to look like swiss cheese,” She promised him angrily. 

Robin just sat their limply. She followed his gaze and saw he was staring at the body of the Joker.

“That’s right, sugar, he won’t ever hurt you again,” Harley gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and let him be for a moment. 

It took a little fanangling, but Harley managed to take out the two guards who had escorted them down to where Robin had been being held and took their uniforms and security passes. Considering they’d willingly helped in the prolonged torture of a child, she wasn’t a bit sorry for killing them, just that she couldn’t drag it out since she needed the uniforms as blood-free as possible. 

The kid could barely stand, so Harely secured a hat low on his face and had to practically drag him the rest of the way out. 

They got stopped exactly once, but all Harley had to say was, “Mista J. wants him moved to a new location for now.”

And just like that they were given the keys to a van and let go without a fuss. 

Harley made sure to memorize the guards face for later. 

As soon as they were back in the city, Harley ditched the van and loaded the kid into the passenger seat of a new car. 

“I know Mista J. has been making inroads to that place for years, but that was just too easy,” Harley complained, “No action at all. Takes all the fun out of a great escape. Probably for the best though considering you ain’t up for running or climing things though, huh?”

No answer.

“Maybe they gave us a tail? Or maybe the Bats are watching us waiting for me to lead them back to Pamy. Though that could save me time trying to track them down to give you back to them. Say! Maybe we should flag them down early and-”

“No Bats,” the boy croaked. 

It was the first words Robin had spoken.

“Really?” Harley asked in surprised. 

“Stopped lookin… left me to rot… replaced me…” the boy mumbled.

Well, that was technically all true. Not to mention the fact that they let the kid be hurt in the first place. Batsy was just as crazy as the rest of them if he though kids had any business on the street. Plus, if she called them she’d just go back to jail anyway, and she’d only just gotten out again. 

“Aight, no Bats,” she agreed easily, “Anyone else you want to call?”

No answer. Ouch. 

“That’s ok, hun, you can just stay with me an Pamy then until you know what you wanna do,” Harley shrugged easily, steering them wildly through traffic, “Pamy doesn’t like men, but she likes kids, and she’s got a plant for _everything_. We’ll get you healed up real quick.”

The boy was quiet for a bit, watching the scenery pass, eyes half open. 

“This is a trick, isn’t it?” he mumbled at last, “Some new game? You wouldn’t ever really betray- him.”

“That’s what he probably thought, but men are full of shite sometimes,” Harley snorted loudly, “My Puddin can rot in hell. He probably already is.”

She could tell the boy didn’t believe her, and honestly she didn’t blame him. She knew the kinds of mind games her Ex could come up with. Could see the evidence of some of them on the boy’s skin, starting with the J burned into his cheek. 

“Mama’s going to take good care of you, just you wait and see,” Harley promised, “You just worry about healing up, m’kay kiddo?”

A long silence, and Harley thought he wasn’t going to respond at all- which wouldn’t surprise her- but then, so soft she almost missed it, she heard a small, “Ok.”

Harley smiled triumphantly.

**Author's Note:**

> It always kind of bugged me that Harley took part in Jason's torture in the Arkham verse. It seemed really out of character considering her general stance on kids, even if it was the Joker leading the way. Tie Robin up and watching Batman lose him mind? Sure, that's _funny_ and it should teach him to be more careful with his kids. But torture them? Tie them up so they can't fight back and torture them for years? That seems like the kind of thing she'd be iffy about.


End file.
